Posted by Pieter on Friday, December 30, 2005 at 7:02PM :
Got this on another forum and wanted to share here as I know there are veterans here that we all should thank for what we have.
Thanks for all you have done and have a Safe and Happy New Year!
Pieter
The elderly parking lot attendant wasn't in a good mood. Neither was Sam Bierstock. It was around 1 a.m., and Bierstock, a Delray Beach,
Fla., eye doctor, business consultant, corporate speaker and musician, was bone tired after appearing at an event.
He pulled up in his car, and the parking attendant began to speak. "I took two bullets for this country and look what I'm doing," he said bitterly.
At first, Bierstock didn't know what to say to the World War II veteran. But he rolled down his window and told the man, "Really, from the
bottom of my heart, I want to thank you." Then the old soldier began to cry. "That really got to me," Bierstock says.
Bierstock, 58, and John Melnick, 54, of Pompano Beach, a member of Bierstock's band, Dr. Sam and the Managed Care Band have written a
song inspired by that old soldier in the airport parking lot. The mournful Before You Go" does more than salute those who fought in WWII. It encourages people to go out of their way to thank the aging warriors before they die.
"If we had lost that particular war, our whole way of life would have been shot," says Bierstock, who plays harmonica. "Every ethnic minority would be dead. The soldiers were dying at the rate of about 2,000 a day. I thought we needed to thank them."
The song is striking a chord. Within four days of Bierstock placing it on the Web.
The accompanying photo essay have bounced around nine countries, producing tears and heartfelt thanks from veterans, their sons and
daughters and grandchildren.
Bierstock and Melnick thought about shipping it off to a professional singer, maybe a Lee Greenwood type, but because time was running out
for so many veterans, they decided it was best to release it quickly, for free, on the Web. They've sent the song to Sen. John McCain and
others in Washington. Already they have been invited to perform it in Houston for a Veterans Day tribute, this after just a few days on the Web. They hope every veteran in America gets a chance to hear it.
http://www.managedmusic.com/beforeyougo.html
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